HP Envy notebooks refreshed with new design and 3D tech

HP has come out all guns blazing today (16 November) as it's not only produced HP Folio 13 Ultrabook with a super-duper battery life, but also launched some new Envy notebooks on an unsuspecting public.

The new HP Envy 15 and 17 notebooks are said, by the company, to deliver "blistering performance and optimal sound experience in a timeless design that includes an all-metal chassis with rounded edges in a classic black and silver finish, accented by subtle red details." There's also an HP 17 3D option which apparently offers some of the best 3D visuals around.

Coming in either 15.6-inch or 17.3-inch, both will offer 1080p Radiance screens for decent viewing angles and Beats Audio will come as standard as well. Optional Intel Quad Core and AMD Mobility Radeon high-definition graphic processors are also available.

The bottom rung HP Envy 15 will be packing a Core i5-2430M CPU, 6GB of RAM, a 500GB 7,200RPM hard drive. The display works out as 1366 x 768 resolution and connectivity is taken care of through Bluetooth, HDMI, a single DisplayPort, two USB 3.0 sockets and one 2.0. You should get around 9 hours out of the eight-cell battery.

Moving on to the HP Envy 17, this will also get an Core i5-2430 CPU 6GB of RAM and a 750GB 7,200RPM drive, but extras over the Envy 15 include better battery life (around 9.5 hours) an extra DisplayPort and added USB 3.0 socket.

The Envy 17 3D gets all of the above along with 8GB of RAM for all that 3D action you'll be consuming and a Blu-ray player with one pair of active shutter glasses.

The company also introduced two wireless accessories - HP Wireless audio and the HP Wi-Fi Touch mouse X7000.

You'll find a host of other innovations within these high-end notebooks, such as HP CoolSense technology, which automatically adjusts performance and internal fan settings for a noticeably cooler PC; and HP ImagePad, for precise multifinger touch navigation.

They will be available on 7 December in the US, with the HP ENVY 15 priced at $1,099.99, the HP ENVY 17 $1,249.99 and the HP ENVY 17 3D priced at $1,599.99.